How Real Rate handles UK fuel price information

What Real Rate is

Real Rate is an independent fuel price comparison website. It shows fuel stations, distances, recent price data, update times, and UK-wide price comparisons so users can make a more informed decision before travelling to a station.

• It is designed for practical comparison, not for selling fuel.
• It does not take payment for fuel or reserve prices.
• It does not guarantee availability, opening status, or the final pump price.

Data source

Fuel prices and forecourt details are taken from the official UK government fuel price API. Real Rate stores that information in its own database so searches are fast and stable for visitors.

The data includes information reported through the government fuel price data system, such as forecourt details, fuel types, prices, and timestamps where available.

Real Rate may also use postcode coordinate data to improve postcode searches. That postcode lookup is used to find nearby stations; it is not used to identify a person or a household.

Not a government website

Real Rate uses government-sourced data, but Real Rate is not a government website, public authority, official government service, or government-approved price guarantee.

References to the official UK government fuel price API explain the source of the data. They do not mean that the government operates, endorses, monitors, or accepts responsibility for Real Rate.

Price accuracy

Fuel prices can change quickly. A station may change its pump price before the next data update reaches Real Rate. Retailers may also report price changes after they happen, or update different fuel types at different times.

• The website shows update timing where available.
• Older prices are marked as a caution rather than hidden silently.
• Users should treat Real Rate as a guide, not as a binding quote.
• The final price is always the price shown at the pump.

Freshness and sync timing

Real Rate updates its local database from the official source on a scheduled cycle. The site may show the latest completed update, or the latest step of an update currently in progress.

There can be a delay between a retailer changing a price, that change appearing in the official data source, Real Rate receiving it, and the website showing it. That delay is normal for this type of service.

Nationwide statistics and nationwide searches focus on recent price data so old values do not dominate UK-wide comparisons.

Invalid or suspicious prices

Sometimes source values can arrive in an invalid scale or outside a realistic UK pump-price range. For example, a price may arrive as pounds instead of pence, or with a missing decimal point.

Real Rate normalises obvious scale issues where it can do so safely. It excludes clearly invalid values from:

• search result ranking;
• UK cheapest, average, and highest price statistics;
• station-level UK comparisons;
• public display where the value would mislead users.

This filtering is intended to protect users from obvious data errors. It does not mean every unusual price is wrong, and it does not guarantee that every data issue will be detected.

How results are ranked

Search results are ranked by the selected fuel price first, then by distance. If two stations have the same selected fuel price, the nearer station is preferred.

• Real Rate does not sell ranking positions.
• Real Rate does not boost a retailer because of advertising or payment.
• Real Rate does not alter timestamps to make a price look newer.
• Stations with missing or invalid selected-fuel prices may be excluded from that search.

Nationwide searches

The nationwide option is intended to show very cheap recent prices across the UK. It is not limited to the user's local radius, but it can still show distance where a postcode, town, or location is available.

Nationwide results use recent prices and realistic price filters so stale or obviously wrong values do not appear as the cheapest fuel in the country.

A nationwide result may be too far away to be useful for travel. It is mainly a comparison tool to understand where the lowest known prices are.

Postcode, town, and location search

Postcode search uses postcode coordinate lookup data to estimate the search centre. Full postcode searches are more precise than broad postcode-area searches, but they still represent a coordinate point, not a guarantee of the exact road entrance or route.

• Browser location uses the device/browser location permission and can vary by device accuracy.
• Postcode search uses stored postcode coordinates and may not match a device location perfectly.
• Town search may use known locations or station/address matches.
• Distances are straight-line estimates, not driving route distances.

Station details

Station names, addresses, opening information, services, and brand data come from the available source data. They may be incomplete, delayed, inconsistent, or formatted differently between retailers.

Some stations may be independent, rebranded, temporarily closed, recently opened, or missing from the current dataset. Real Rate can only display what is available to it and what passes basic quality checks.

Brands, logos, and trademarks

Brand names and logos are used only to help users identify stations. Real Rate is not affiliated with, sponsored by, endorsed by, or operated by any fuel retailer, supermarket, forecourt operator, or brand shown on the website.

If a dedicated logo is not available, Real Rate may show a generated text badge using the station or brand name. That generated badge is not an official logo.

All trademarks, brand names, and logos belong to their respective owners.

UK price statistics

Real Rate may show UK-wide cheapest, average, and highest prices for diesel and petrol. These figures are calculated from Real Rate's current database after freshness and validity filters are applied.

• They are not national official statistics.
• They can change as new data arrives.
• They exclude obviously invalid values.
• They may exclude stale prices from UK-wide comparisons.

Feedback and corrections

Users can report a price issue, bug, or missing detail through the feedback page. Reports help identify problems, but a report does not immediately change official source data or guarantee that a displayed price will be edited.

Where a data problem is found, Real Rate may adjust filtering, display logic, or internal quality checks to avoid misleading users.

Privacy

Real Rate does not use tracking cookies or advertising cookies. If a user chooses browser location search, the browser asks for permission and provides coordinates for the search. Real Rate uses those coordinates to find nearby prices.

• Location search is optional.
• Postcode search can be used instead of browser location.
• Feedback messages may store the submitted message, selected category, station name if provided, optional contact email, and basic technical information needed to review the report.
• Do not send sensitive personal information through the feedback form.

Availability and technical limits

Real Rate depends on hosting, scheduled data updates, database availability, and the official source being reachable. The site may occasionally show older data, incomplete data, temporary errors, or delayed updates.

Cached files can also mean that a browser briefly shows an older version of the website interface after a deployment. Data endpoints are designed to avoid browser caching where current data matters.

No warranty

Real Rate is provided as an informational tool. While care is taken to show useful and transparent information, no warranty is given that any price, station detail, distance, opening status, statistic, or timestamp is complete, current, accurate, or suitable for a particular journey.

Drivers remain responsible for checking the pump price, route, station availability, and any other relevant details before buying fuel or travelling.

Copyright

Real Rate website design, interface, text, and original project assets are copyright © 2026 Cristinel, unless otherwise stated.

Third-party data, brand names, trademarks, and logos remain the property of their respective owners.